"Release me, humans!" a Klingon was shouting at the top of his lungs. Rin knew that as a Klingon she could easily overwhelm the two men, but she decided to make it look like a fight and wound up in the brig just as planned. She shouted a mass of different insults at the two ensigns for good effect.
She sat cross-legged in the corner of the brig. It was strange having to behave as a male Klingon, but it was her duty, and she owed it to her Captain and his Enterprise.
One of the Klingons from the adjoining cell looked at Rin and asked, "What were you doing aboard this Starship, all on your own?"
In an aggressive, deep voice she responded, "I attempted to take the lives of the Captain and his first and second officers. But I… I was found and brought here." She slammed her fist against the wall.
"What are you called, young one?" the Commander asked, obviously having had his attention caught at Rin's story.
"They call me… Telok," she responded. It sounded like a good, strong Klingon name, even though it reminded her of worse times.
"Your attempt and devotion to your ship and its crew has been noted, Telok."
"Hey, no talking in there!" one of the security guards shouted into the brig.
'Telok' grew silent once more and pretended to fall asleep. She wasn't nervous since she had her own cell, but it was still awkward.
A short while later it came time to feed the prisoners. There was extreme tension between the true Klingons and humans. When the cell door was opened, Rin knocked the guard to the ground. She gently nodded to the ensign she had plotted with before but he hesitated. She shot him a look. If he didn't pull off his part of the plan, they potentially would never get an answer from them.
She took a threatening step forward and he finally nodded back. A guard grabbed her from behind and she flipped him over her shoulder. While she was 'distracted' by the guard, the ensign rushed forward and hit her with the butt of his phaser on her skull, in the exact same place she had told him to before.
She fell to the ground in a heap, barely conscious. The door opened and she craned her Klingon neck upward. 'McCoy? He could ruin everything!'
He picked up what had happened and he quickly walked over to Telok. A look of puzzlement appeared on his face and Telok smiled.
"Bones, it's me. I was in a hurry so I skipped the internal change," she whispered quietly. He looked as if about to speak but she continued, "I'll explain everything later, I promise. But for now, explain that I have been hit so hard that I may suffer from memory loss."
"Uh… Ensign," McCoy began, "I believe you may have caused minor brain damage in this Klingon. We'll be lucky if he remembers anything at all!" He extracted one of his air-powered needles and shot her up with it. "Vitamins," he whispered, and before he rose he added, "Callista is recovering in sick-bay. I'll tell you more soon." And with that, he rose and walked out.
The two guards lifted Telok and moved her back into the cell. For full effect, she lain still for a long while. When she did rise at long last, one of the younger Klingons noticed immediately.
"Telok, are you well?" he asked quietly.
Rin adjusted herself and pretended to be only half there. "I… am uncertain," she mumbled with Telok's voice. Rin glanced around and looked as though confused. "Where are we?"
The young Klingon sent him a shocked look. "Do you not recall?" he asked in surprise. "We are imprisoned aboard the Federation Starship Enteprise. You were found onboard the ship after attempting assassination against the Captain's first and second officers. We beamed over and were caught in an ambush."
Rin was silent a moment and pretended to look like she was thinking deeply. "I… I believe I remember beaming over, but nothing else." She looked down at the ground.
"Can you not also remember your position on our ship?" he asked. Telok shook his head. "Telok, you had one of the most important positions on the ship. You were privileged, and monitored the Computer."
Rin's heart raced. This is what she had been waiting for! "The… Computer?" she asked.
"Yes, the Computer. It was, in a means, our Captain. Our Commander, who is in here with us, was as the face of the Computer." He paused a brief moment. "The Computer ran the entire ship, from Communications, to Navigating, to Life-Support, and down even to food preparation."
Telok nodded as if he understood. "What more is there?" he asked.
The Klingon thought a moment. "Between all the ships and their Computers is a Collective. As the Computers learn from experience, it sends information to the Collective, so in this way all Computers learn. In a sense, these Computers are very much like the Borg."
"Borg?" Telok asked curiously.
"They're not important," he said with a slight smirk.
"These… Computers," Telok began again. "How many are there?"
"There are enough to the point where they are teaching younglings about them in schooling for starship preparation."
The door to her brig opened and two guards dragged her out. Soon later, and after many strange looks from the crew, she was dragged into sick-bay. Once the door was sealed behind them, they set her down, and Klingon became Aurelian.
McCoy entered the room from the adjoining one and smirked. "You told him to hit you?" he asked in a surprised tone. "That could've been serious."
"It was worth it, from what I found out," she replied. Her happy air suddenly darkened a bit and she glanced over his shoulder into the room he had recently exited.
His smile faded and he led her into the next rom. Callista was unconscious still in one of the beds. Her breathing was labored and her heart beat was a bit irregular and rushed. Rin frowned at the sight of her little sister. The Klingons had done this once before to her, had ruined her childhood and had shaken her foundation, but it had been one time too many.
"Will she make it?" she asked in a quiet voice.
He signed and shrugged. "I can't tell," he admitted. "She might, but I think you could tell better than I. All I could do was stabilize her."
She sat down in a chair and stared at the wall in thought. "Her heartbeat is irregular and her temperature is a bit high. If it's a cold of a sort, she can't sweat it out, since we don't have sweat glands." She rubbed her eyes and exhaled. "Vivek was the one who contained all the medical knowledge for my clan," she whispered to herself. "Why can't I remember anything?" Her head throbbed a little from where she had been hit but she blocked the distraction. After a moment of pondering, a thought came to mind and she headed for the door.
"Wait Rin," McCoy called from behind her and he closed the door again. "I need to you stick around." She turned and stared at him. "That blow to the head may have done more damage than intended."
Rin swallowed her frustration and was quiet while McCoy scanned her head. "Bed rest," he prescribed an instant later. "I'd say you should rest in your quarters until your head looks better." She said nothing as she turned to leave. "I'll come check up on you in a bit, so don't let me catch you out of bed."
--
In her quarters, Rin was sitting in front of the ship-wide informational computer, regardless of what she had been told to do. "Computer," she called and waited.
"Ready," the robotic-female voice responded.
"Search all information regarding old Aurelian medical skills and methods."
"Working," it replied and was silent for a moment. "In each clan, the main Aurelian (typically the alpha-male, but not in all cases) held all medical knowledge and was consulted in things pertaining to illness or injury. It has not yet been explained, but in some branches, especially that of Gryphex, knowledge was passed down through generations, but it was usually unused until the knowledge is required in a life-threatening situation, or in that of another's."
"Great," she muttered sarcastically. "So I know it already!"
"In the case of a cut, gash, or wound, the main Aurelian, also known as the Kaloner, or its descendant, can apply a feather to the wound, and by ways unknown, the feather holds in place and helps to heal the injury."
"That one… I remember from…" A saddening memory came to her mind and her stomach twisted into a knot.
"Other skills include herbal knowledge; how the combinations thereof could either heal or poison the body."
"Stop." Rin puzzled a moment. "None of this is helping the situation. Computer."
"Ready."
"Search all known illnesses communicable and or inherited by Aurelians," she commanded.
"Working," it replied once again. "List compiled."
"Sort by most common."
"Working."
The door to her quarters opened and Spock walked in. "You are needed on the Bridge."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Spock," she said apologetically. "Dr. McCoy has confined me to bed rest."
"This is bed rest?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Currently, I'm trying to figure out what is ailing my sister. Unfortunately, because of the secrecy of my race, there is only so much information."
"I am aware that your branch of the Aurelians is able to pass knowledge down to their immediate descendants," he stated.
"We can, but only some do," she informed. "I know my father, the Kaloner of my clan, passed his knowledge down to me, or my sister, but accessing it could prove to be difficult." She looked from the computer to her friend. "If that is the case, I may require your assistance."
Spock nodded and grasped his wrist behind his back. "When the time comes, I will make myself available," he offered.
Rin smiled a bit. "Thank you. I shall appreciate your help immensely," she replied thankfully. He nodded once and turned to leave. "Wait, where are you going?" she asked suddenly.
"To bribe the good doctor for your release," he responded in a slightly different tone of voice and he left.
"I don't care what he says," she told herself. "He's pretty darn funny for a Vulcan."
The computer chirped once to grab her attention and she turned back to it. "List compiled," it repeated again.
"Show list on the viewing screen, no audio."
It did as asked and Rin watched as a thorough list came before her eyes on the screen. Atop the list were illnesses he had either caught before or had learned about from her father all those years ago. "Computer, find illness or illnesses that match these symptoms: increased heart rate, labored respiration, temperature swings, and a coma-like state after extreme physical trauma. Show matches on-screen."
The screen was blank a moment and then it came up with one match. The name was unpronounceable, even for her. "Let's see… caused by an overload of stress and the overworking of midiclorians in the cell… potentially fatal?!" She jumped clear out of her chair. "Computer, treatment or cure on audio."
After a few seconds, "Cure unknown. Knowledge of treatment and cure is held only by Kaloner, or the descendant thereof."
Rin punched her wall and slid to the ground. "Computer off," she muttered. Her head was pounding and her blood was boiling through her veins. "I should remember," she told herself heatedly. "Or was it given to Callista? Since she too is a descendant… perhaps she was chosen to possess the knowledge instead?" On this hunch, she pushed herself to her feet and quickly departed for sick-bay.